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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27724568">Just sleep, partner</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweetheartshumjr/pseuds/sweetheartshumjr'>sweetheartshumjr</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars - All Media Types, The Mandalorian (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Din Djarin is an idiot, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Gay Cowboys, Hurt Cobb Vanth, Hurt/Comfort, IN SPACE!, M/M, Protective Din Djarin, Soft Din Djarin, but just in case you guys, idiots to lovers</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 17:14:02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,853</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27724568</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweetheartshumjr/pseuds/sweetheartshumjr</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After the battle with the Krayt Dragon, Cobb convinces Din to wait one more day in the town. But the way bach is not as simple as either of them wanted it to be...</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Baby Yoda (The Mandalorian TV) &amp; Din Djarin &amp; Cobb Vanth, Din Djarin/Cobb Vanth</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>284</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Just sleep, partner</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“There you go. As promised.”</p><p>Din turned around and saw Vanth with the armor in his hands. The marshal smiled at him, although it was a bit different from all of the smiles he has received so far. This one seemed almost… Sad? No, that couldn’t be it. Why would he be sad?</p><p>Upon hearing that Din simply nodded his head. Vanth placed the armor nearby the meat. It was only when he stood closer, that Din saw how almost vulnerable he looked without it. Just a red shirt and scarf, dark pants, combat boots, and the only thing keeping him somewhat safe was the blaster in his hostler, which Din had to admit, couldn’t be enough. He almost regretted taking the armor away from him. Almost. This is the way, he thought to himself.</p><p>He was so lost in his thoughts that he missed that Vanth had said something to him. That almost never happened. Maybe he was getting old already.<br/>
“Hm?”</p><p>Vanth laughed. Earnestly, Din noticed, which was stupid. Why does it matter if the laugh was earnest or not, he really didn’t care…</p><p>“I said, why don’t you leave tomorrow morning? It’s been a long day, and I’m sure you are tired. And, don’t get offended, but I think something needs a bit of a cleanup” with that he looked pointedly at his armor. Din rolled his eyes under the helmet.</p><p>“I can’t.”</p><p>Vanth sighed. The child, hidden in a sac, cooed.</p><p>“Come on, buddy. One night won’t save you, and I know that you both need it” and with that, he turned to the kid who squealed as if he was agreeing. <em>Little traitor</em>, Din thought to himself. He sighed. Why did the child have so much power over him was still a mystery.</p><p>“Fine. But only one night. We can’t stay any longer”.</p><p>Vanth smiled so brightly, that Din thought for a second that the twin suns together couldn’t have shined brighter. Meanwhile, the marshal leaned down and patted the Mandalorian on the shoulder.</p><p>“Then it’s all settled. Give me a minute, and I’ll get to my own pod.”</p><p>Din simply nodded and watched the marshal go to his people, supposedly instructing them as to what to do next. He looked at the child and murmured:</p><p>“Traitor.”</p><p>The little womp rat didn’t seem to mind at all.</p><p> </p>
<p></p><div class="media-holder media-holder-draggable media-holder-hr"><hr class="tmblr-truncated"/><p> </p>
<p></p></div><p>After a while, the three of them were on their way back to the village. They didn’t talk much, but neither of them minded. Din, even if he would never say that out loud, actually did feel quite tired. Getting eaten by a Krayt dragon never really was one of his life goals, and the lovely acid, which thanks to the beskar wasn’t burning him alive, was an annoying bonus to it all. So yeah, sue him for being tired.</p><p>Vanth, on the other hand, seemed to be lost in thought. No doubt he was now thinking about the future of Mos Pelgo. Sure, the dragon was dead, and now the Sand People wouldn’t ride the village, but it was Tatooine. This planet was full of threats, just waiting to jump out.</p><p>Din pressed his lips together on that thought and instinctively pressed the sac with the child closer to him.</p><p>And then something happened.</p><p>One moment they were on their pods, in another Din felt as if he was catapulted out of it. He managed to grab the kid and fly off just in time before it crashed. A shot flew right beside his helmet.</p><p>From his position above he tried to assess the situation. Three bounty hunters. Of fucking course.</p><p>He looked to the side, and finding that the marshal also managed to jump out of the pod relatively safely, he started to shoot.</p><p>The bounty hunters weren’t that stupid, he had to give them that but worked without any foresight. The first one, a Twi’lek man, managed to take cover behind a rock and shoot from there. The other, a human woman, shot a rope at him, trying to get him down, but missed. She was in some kind of armor which could cause some difficulties. And the last one was currently occupied by Vanth.<br/>
Din landed near him.</p><p>“You alright?” he shouted, eyes trained on the woman who was a few paces away from him. Vanth snickered.</p><p>“Never better. You?”</p><p>“Same.”</p><p>And with that, he activated the flamethrower and directed the flame on the woman. She dodged it. A vile smile appeared on her lips.</p><p>“Give us the kid, and everything will be fine!” she shouted. Din noticed how her hand went to one of the sacks that she had near her waist. He shot there, but she once again managed to dodge it.</p><p>“Yeah, sure,” he heard the marshal behind him. His opponent stopped shooting for a second, as well as the Twi’lek. Din didn’t like it at all. That meant there was something more to the plan.</p><p>When she withdrew her hand there was a bomb in it. She quickly threw it right under their feet. As it exploded, a purple-ish looking smoke emerged from it. Din quickly covered the child’s face.</p><p>“Vanth! Cover your mouth!”</p><p>It was bad. The smoke was so thick that he almost couldn’t see. As he reached from his flamethrower he heard the Twi’lek, closer than he thought he would.<br/>
“Not a great idea, Mando. It catches fire. Yes, the shots from the blasters may upset it as well.”</p><p>Din cursed under his breath, realizing what was happening. Hand-to-hand combat wasn’t that bad, but for this, he needed both of his hands free, and he needed to keep the child to cover his mouth because the little womp rat wouldn’t probably do it by himself. Which meant it might get difficult.</p><p>Speaking of difficult, he felt someone’s hands tugging on his sac, and the child squealed. Almost blindly he punched back with his elbow, hitting the guy who Vanth was fighting with on the head. Alright, so maybe there weren’t as smart as he thought.</p><p>He dodged the hit to the head and turning around, he quickly squatted down, kicking the guy on his knees. If he wasn’t going to rely on his hands, then his legs would have to suffice. Hearing the thud he quickly reached for one of his knives and tied to stab the guy, but the scoundrel managed to roll to the side, dodging. Somewhere on his right, he heard the marshal grunting and a second later he heard a male shout. So the Twi’lek was occupied, that’s good. But where was the woman?</p><p>He had little time to think about it because the other guy suddenly stood up and charged at him with what, Din wasn’t sure. He quickly dodged, and seeing as the attacker was smaller than him he opted to stab him where he could reach, hoping it was his neck. It landed on the shoulder, which was good enough, as the bounty hunter screamed and distracted with the pain he didn’t manage to dodge another kick on his knees. Din, seeing his opportunity, quickly released the sac and grabbed the attacker by his collar, and simply slit his throat, before he could yell.</p><p>When the attacker fell with a satisfying thud, Din looked at the sac. The green ears were still sticking out of it, and it looked like the child got that he should cover his mouth. Great.</p><p>During the fight, the smoke has thinned out enough for Din to start seeing his surroundings again. He glanced over the side, where Vanth should be, right in time to see the man push the dead body of the Twi’lek off him. He did seem to have a ripped sleeve and Din noticed the small trickle of blood on his head, but nothing else. The red scarf covered his mouth.</p><p>“Where’s the lady?” he yelled. Din shook his head, looking around himself, trying to spot the last bounty hunter. She had to be around. He didn’t spot any jack pack on her back, so she couldn’t surprise them from above. They looked at each other.</p><p>“She couldn’t have fled. Looked to set on the task” Vanth muttered. He squinted his eyes and also turned. Both of them walked closer to the child, who squealed. Din could tell he was scared and something tugged in his heart. Once this all was over he really needed to get some treats for the child. Maybe one of those blue cookies he saw some kids eat.</p><p>He shook his head. He’ll think about it later.</p><p>The smoke has almost disappeared.</p><p>“She has to be waiting for something,” he said, and only when he said it out loud did he realize. As the last trace of the smoke faded out, without looking he grabbed the sac and yelled:</p><p>“Take cover!”</p><p>Vanth, confused, looked at him when he heard the first shot. He dogged it, and ran to the nearest rock, as Din did the same, trying to see from which side the shot came. But once again it got quiet…</p><p>...or that’s what Din would have said if he didn’t hear a scared whine a few paces in front of him. In a second of pure disbelief, he saw the child, waddling back and forth, clearly dumbfounded and still covering his mouth. He looked at the sac. Of course, it was empty. He felt his blood run cold.</p><p>It all happened in a millisecond.</p><p>As he stood up to run to the child he heard a blaster shot again and then a pained grunt. As he raised his eyes he saw Vanth kneeling in front of the kid, clearly shielding him with his own body. A puff of smoke came from the side of his back. The child squealed, shocked and probably even terrified, and the shot came again, hitting the marshal, but where Din couldn’t tell. He grunted but seemed to compose himself enough to grab the child and he tried to run to his rock, while Din shot back.</p><p>He looked to the side. Vanth was clearly in pain, but he’ll live. Probably. He had to.</p><p>Din shot once again in the direction where he assumed the woman was. He more heard than felt the counterblast as he let it hit the helmet. He knew his armor. That much of a simple blast wouldn’t get through it.<br/>
This little stunt let him finally clearly see where the woman was. He noticed her hand stuck above the rock right in front of him and her unprotected head did make a quick appearance.</p><p>Knowing this much he wasted no time and ran straight to her. She had nowhere to run. Behind her were even more rocks, in front of her, him. Perfect.<br/>
He reached her in no time, despite her still shooting at him. He used his jetpack to fly above her and aimed. The shot landed right on her hand.<br/>
He took a second to release a breath when a displeased coo reached his ears.<br/>
Din turned around and went to Vanth.</p><p>He was sitting, heavily leaning against the rock, his breath ragged. The child was propped in his arms, eyes closed. Din, with a surprise, noticed how pale he was. Where has the woman hit him?</p><p>“Should have told me that your friends would come over” Vanth said while opening one eye. Despite everything Din rolled his.</p><p>“Sorry, they didn’t tell me as well,” he asked dryly. “Where are you hit?”</p><p>“Back and leg from the lady, head, and arm from her boy. The other one didn’t manage to…” he stopped, and closed his eyes, grunting. He staggered back, and if Din didn’t catch him by the elbow, he would have fallen on the sand. “<em>Dank ferrik</em>” he muttered under his breath. Din furrowed his brows. Now he started to worry.</p><p>“What else?” he pressed on, with a far gentler tone that he intended to, but Vanth seemed to be too tired to notice, which was a bad sign in itself. He heavily let out his breath.</p><p>“No idea, partner. But I feel a bit dizzy, you know.”</p><p>The poison. Of course.</p><p>“We need to get you to the village. How far is it?”</p><p>“Not too much. You and the child should make it quite safely” came the answer. The kid cooed, looking back and forth at the two men. Din looked at him briefly and noticed that thanks to the Maker, he wasn’t hurt at all. Feeling his father’s eyes on him, the kid wiggled his hands.</p><p>Din pressed his lips. Maybe whatever the child could do, could help the marshal but it seemed too risky. But he also didn't feel like leaving him.</p><p>“Can you stand?’ he asked, leaning down and taking a closer look at the man. He was sweating, and it clearly wasn’t from the suns. <em>Dank ferrik</em>.</p><p>“Don’t think so.” Vanth leaned forward and cursed under his breath, swaying a little to the other side. Din once again propped him up. He really didn't like what he was seeing. “Listen. Take the kid, fly to the town, and alert Kaida of the situation.”</p><p>“No.”</p><p>Despite his state, Vanth managed to smile at him, somewhat flirtatiously.<br/>
“Didn’t take you for a caring type, partner.”</p><p><em>Shut up</em>, Din thought to himself. He knew he was acting highly irrational, but for some reason, he couldn’t bring himself to leave the marshal alone now. The mere thought of that made him feel… not scared but uneasy.</p><p>Vanth, on the other hand, sighed. His hand found Din’s and he lightly squeezed it. Din pressed his lips, ignoring the fact how warm he suddenly felt.</p><p>“Listen, Mando. Hate to stay as well, but that’s the best option. I can’t get up, and even if I could, it would take far too much time than it should. We don’t know how this poison works, and I’m sure as hell that my wounds aren’t helping me. You’ll get to the town rather quickly on that jetpack of yours. Plus, Kaida is our medic, she’ll know what to do.”</p><p>Din looked at him and sighed. He was right. There was nothing he could do, and any moment of delay was too risky. He needed to move.</p><p>He took his hand out of Vanth’s grip and said:</p><p>“Fine.”</p><p>He then carefully unwrapped his cape and as gently as he could he tucked it under Vanth’s head. And then, in the moment of weakness, he lightly smoothed Vanth's hair back, in a way he faintly remembered his mother doing to call him down. This gesture seemed to surprise the marshall enough for him to not make any comment. Din even saw the faintest shade of pink appear on his cheeks, which shouldn’t make his heart flutter but it did. Get a grip on yourself, Djarin, he thought as he took the child in his arms. He trashed, of course, but Din ignored it. He stood up and with the last glance on the marshal he muttered:</p><p>“Don’t die.”</p><p>Vanth chuckled.</p><p>“Will do my best.”</p><p>And with that Din flew away.</p><p><br/>
***</p><p>The next few hours found him on the porch of Vanth’s house.</p><p>The marshal was right, the town was fairly near and he quickly managed to find the medic, Kaida. Then everything felt like a blur. The town’s folk, that haven’t been at the fight with the dragon, all gathered to reach their marshal as quickly as possible. In the next half an hour or so, they returned with the man himself and transported him to the building which, as Din was later informed, was his home. And then, all they had to do was to wait for Kaida to emerge from the house and tell everyone what’s going to happen next.</p><p>And wait they did. The child, which quickly gathered himself enough, started to play with other kids. Most of the adults went to the cantina. And Din sat on the porch, thinking.</p><p>Why wouldn’t he leave Vanth? Why did he linger? He was sure that the threat was pacified. And all of the things the marshal said were things that he usually would say, had he been thinking clearly, which he wasn’t. Something about leaving Vanth made his heart quench.</p><p>Din sighed deeply, lowering his head.</p><p>He couldn’t have… caught feelings, could he? No, that was ridiculous. He knew the guy for like what, two days? It was too early for things like that.</p><p>And yet, in a moment of weakness, he asked him to take care of the child. So something must have been going on.</p><p>Exasperated he grunted. <em>Dank ferrik</em>, he was too tired for this shit.</p><p>At this moment he heard a ruffle behind him, so he turned.</p><p>A middle-aged, dark-skinned woman emerged from the house. She took a look at him.</p><p>“He’s fine,” she said, and Din released a breath he didn’t know he was holding. Kriffing feelings. “Will need a rest, but I doubt he’ll actually do that. Always too absorbed in other’s safety to take care of himself, you know.”</p><p>Din almost smiled. It did sound fitting to the marshal's character. From what he had seen, the man was stubborn. And protective.</p><p>“He’s also asking for you. So like, don’t tire him out, all right?” she said, as she walked closer to him. He stood up and silently nodded. He looked at the child, still playing with some kids, and Kaida seemed to notice, ‘cause she added:</p><p>“Don’t worry about the little one. We’ll look after him. We all owe you” and with that, she moved past him. Din walked into the house.</p><p>It was small but seemed cozy enough. He looked around, trying to find Vanth.</p><p>“In here!” he heard from a room further down the corridor.</p><p>Vanth was laying on his bed, looking tired, but more healthy than when he was brought in, which calmed Din down. He stood at the doorstep, not quite knowing what to do with himself. Noticing that Vanth smiled to himself.</p><p>“Sit, Mando,” he said, gesturing at the chair next to the bed. <em>Kaida must have occupied it earlier,</em> Din thought to himself as he sat.</p><p>“How are you?” he asked. Vanth shrugged.</p><p>“Kaida says I’ll live, so that’s good. Still dizzy though, and the back and arm hurts like a bitch, but what can you do, ya know.”</p><p>Din nodded to himself. He trained his gaze at his knees, thinking.</p><p>A comfortable silence fell upon them.</p><p>“Why did you do it?” he asked, without lifting his head. He felt Vanth’s gaze on him.</p><p>“Did what?” he asked. Din groaned.</p><p>“Vanth…”</p><p>The marshal huffed.</p><p>“Mando, I swear to the Maker, you got swallowed by a dragon for my village. I think we’re way past calling me by my surname.”</p><p>“Cobb. You know exactly what I mean.”</p><p>He heard a sigh.</p><p>“If I told you I was repaying you, would you believe me?” he asked, his voice uncharastically meek. Din shook his head, feeling his lips quirk up.</p><p>“Not quite.”</p><p>“Well then. I didn't want the kid to get hurt.”</p><p>That felt like only half of the truth. And still was alongside the repaying line but Din decided to at least act as he bought it.</p><p>“I was closer to him than you. And I had a beskar on me” he pointed up and he was surprised by some protective wave taking over his. He gritted his teeth.</p><p>“Yeah, about that…”</p><p>Din finally looked up at him. Cobb now had his eyes trained on his hands. Shoulders slumped, side bandaged up, and face twisted in something that Din could only call embarrassment. He sighed and prompted:</p><p>“Yeah?”</p><p>Cobb shook his head. His previously styled hair now flopped to the side, covering his eyes. Din felt a strong urge to smooth them back again, but he restrained himself.</p><p>“You see, kind of forgot that I didn’t have it. And when I saw the kid in danger, I couldn't think logically. I just had to protect him, you know. Call it a marshal instinct.”</p><p>Din once again felt an irrational regret over taking the armor from Cobb. Next time, he wouldn’t be there. And, as he thought earlier, Tatooine was full of threats. It was only a matter of time when a new foe appeared in the town. Will Cobb learn by then how to fight without the armor? Will he buy a new one or…</p><p>“I can train you,” he said. Cobb looked at him, clearly surprised, but he couldn't have been more surprised than Din himself. Immediately he wanted to curse his own stupidity and this annoying newfound affection but he said it. No taking back now.</p><p>“ Thought you were in a hurry”</p><p>Trying to cover up his embarrassment, Din shrugged.</p><p>“Yeah, well… I also kind of took something from your defense, so it’s only fair I’ll give you something back.”</p><p>“You defeated the dragon. That is something back, partner.”</p><p>Din had no answer to that, so he just shrugged again, and immediately regretted it after he saw a wicked smile on Cobb’s lips. He managed to learn that it never meant anything good.</p><p>“You just can’t get enough of me, do you?” he asked and winked. Din huffed a laugh.</p><p>“Shut up” he said, but with no bite to it. Cobb chuckled as well.</p><p>“Alright then, if you say so.” and then he yawned, reminding Din about all of the events from the day. He suddenly felt immensely tired as well, but he suspended his yawning.</p><p>“You should go to sleep.”</p><p>“Yeah, probably” muttered Cobb, once again looking at his hands. He suddenly looked… Almost fragile.</p><p>And maybe that was what pushed Din to grab his hand in a gentle hold and run a thumb against his skin.</p><p>“Cobb. Go to sleep. Everyone's safe” he muttered, gentler than he thought he was able to. And there it was again. The telltale pink on the marshal’s cheeks.</p><p>Cobb looked away, clearly flustered, but Din didn’t miss the soft smiling on his lips.</p><p>“Dammit, Mando. Making me blush at my age. Really didn’t take you for the caring type of guy.”</p><p>It was Din’s time to get flustered.</p><p>“Go to sleep or I will make you,” he muttered.</p><p>“All right, all right” and finally Cobb leaned down on the pillows. He moved to the side, somehow still holding Din’s hand. “See, all tucked in. Now in need of good old cuddling or something to fall asleep properly.”</p><p>The words, while probably intended to sound smug, came out as unsure. Din for a second sat there, dumbfounded, not knowing what to say. Cobb looked to the side, seemingly unconsciously smoothing his hair back and that’s when it hit him. He softly smiled to himself.</p><p>“Well, cannot do that, Kaida’s orders, but…” he gently put his other hand in Cobb’s hair and started to comb it.. “...I can do that. Is it enough?”</p><p>“Yeah,” Cobb said, closing his eyes. “It’s enough.”</p><p>“Great, now really. Go to sleep,” and after a moment of consideration he added, while gently squeezing Cobb’s hand, “partner.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Me, in the middle of the night: Don't do it<br/>Me: Don't<br/>My mind: Haha, gay cowboys in space goes brrrr<br/>come and yell at me on tumblr @bbygrogu<br/>"Also, the title was almost "No more protecting my heart<br/>My soul is out of the dark now" but check the song and decide why I didn't do it xd</p></blockquote></div></div>
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